Code will be replaced by October 2015 and relabeled as ICD-10-CM 380.4. Cerumen impaction is also known as bilat cerumen impaction, bilateral impacted cerumen, both sides cerumen impaction, cerumen (ear wax) impaction, cerumen impaction, left cerumen impaction, left impacted cerumen, right cerumen impaction, and right impacted cerumen.
Cerumen (accumulation) (impacted) 380.4. cerumen (ear) (external) 380.4. Wax in ear 380.4. ICD-9-CM codes are used in medical billing and coding to describe diseases, injuries, symptoms and conditions. ICD-9-CM 380.4 is one of thousands of ICD-9-CM codes used in healthcare.
Rather, most coders would recommend that code 69210 be reserved for use in situations where the cerumen removal takes significant effort by the physician. This is a situation where many individual payors have set different policies for application of this code, so it is best to check with individual payors for their policy.
Cerumen Impaction Definition and Symptoms. Cerumen impaction is when earwax blocks the ear canal and ear drum. Symptoms include partial hearing loss, itching in the ears, tinnitus (a ringing in the ears), a feeling of “fullness” in the ear, otalgia and pain in the ear.
ICD-10 code H61. 2 for Impacted cerumen is a medical classification as listed by WHO under the range - Diseases of the ear and mastoid process .
ICD-10-CM Code for Impacted cerumen, left ear H61. 22.
The removal of impacted cerumen (69209, 69210, G0268) is only medically necessary when reported with a diagnosis of impacted cerumen (ICD-10 codes H61.
Irrigation of Ear using Irrigating Substance, Percutaneous Approach, Diagnostic. ICD-10-PCS 3E1B38X is a specific/billable code that can be used to indicate a procedure.
Cerumen impaction is defined as an accumulation of cerumen that causes symptoms or prevents assessment of the ear canal, tympanic membrane, or audiovestibular system; complete obstruction is not required.
A: The coder would report CPT code 69210 (removal impacted cerumen requiring instrumentation, unilateral) with modifier -50 (bilateral procedure) twice. Alternatively, the coder could report code 69210 twice with modifiers -LT (left side) and -RT (right side).
Like CPT 69210, (removal of impacted cerumen requiring instrumentation, unilateral) 69209 requires that a physician or qualified healthcare professional make the decision to irrigate/lavage. However, unlike 69210, 69209 allows removal to be carried out by clinical staff.
You may not bill CPT code 69209 with CPT code 69210, “removal impacted cerumen requiring instrumentation, unilateral,” for the same ear. However, CPT codes 69209 and 69210 can be billed for the same encounter if impacted cerumen is removed from one ear using instrumentation and from the other ear using lavage.
Reporting 69210 Documentation should indicate the equipment used to provide the service. CPT® considers this procedure unilateral and states, “For bilateral procedure, report 69210 with modifier 50.” Contradictory to CPT®, Medicare considers this a bilateral procedure and prices it as such.
earwaxDefinition of cerumen : earwax. Other Words from cerumen Example Sentences Learn More About cerumen.
It is imperative that clinic notes demonstrate that the E/M and the cerumen removal are separate services. CPT guidelines indicate: “For cerumen removal that is not impacted, see E/M service code …” such as new or established office patient (99201-99215), subsequent hospital care (99231-99233), etc.
380.4 is a legacy non-billable code used to specify a medical diagnosis of impacted cerumen. This code was replaced on September 30, 2015 by its ICD-10 equivalent.
References found for the code 380.4 in the Index of Diseases and Injuries:
Your ear has three main parts: outer, middle and inner. You use all of them in hearing. Sound waves come in through your outer ear. They reach your middle ear, where they make your eardrum vibrate. The vibrations are transmitted through three tiny bones, called ossicles, in your middle ear.
General Equivalence Map Definitions The ICD-9 and ICD-10 GEMs are used to facilitate linking between the diagnosis codes in ICD-9-CM and the new ICD-10-CM code set. The GEMs are the raw material from which providers, health information vendors and payers can derive specific applied mappings to meet their needs.
A.Medicare accepts many different ICD-9 codes as “supporting medical necessity.” By definition, however,#N#69210 always involves the diagnosis of impacted cerumen, so it seems reasonable to always attach the code for impacted cerumen ( 380.4) to the code 69210.#N#Of course, the physician documentation should clearly demonstrate the presence of impacted cerumen, as defined above. If you are attempting to code an E/M code in addition to code 69210, appropriate coding of an additional diagnosis is often helpful to reduce denials.#N#DAVID STERN, MD ( Practice Velocity)
Rather, most coders would recommend that code 69210 be reserved for use in situations where the cerumen removal takes significant effort by the physician. This is a situation where many individual payors have set different policies for application of this code, so it is best to check with individual payors for their policy.
A.A simplistic answer is that removing the wax is simply included in the emergency and management (E/M) code . The actual situation, however, is not quite so straightforward.
CPT® guidelines tell us, “For cerumen removal that is not impacted, see E/M service code …” such as new or established office patient (99201-99215), subsequent hospital care (99231-99233), etc. In other words: If the earwax isn’t impacted, removal is included in the documented evaluation and management (E/M) service reported and may not be separately billed.#N#Per the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS), cerumen is impacted if one or more of the following conditions are present: 1 Cerumen impairs the examination of clinically significant portions of the external auditory canal, tympanic membrane, or middle ear condition; 2 Extremely hard, dry, irritative cerumen causes symptoms such as pain, itching, hearing loss, etc.; 3 Cerumen is associated with foul odor, infection, or dermatitis; or 4 Obstructive, copious cerumen cannot be removed without magnification and multiple instrumentations requiring physician skills.
Both 69209 and 69210 are unilateral procedures . For removal of impacted earwax from both ears, append modifier 50 Bilateral procedure to the appropriate code. In the example above of the 7-year-old child, if irrigation occurred in both ears, appropriate coding is 69209-50.#N#When billing Medicare payers, different bilateral rules apply for 69210. The 2016 Medicare National Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value File assigns 69210 a “2” bilateral indicator. This means, for Medicare payers, the relative value units assigned to 69210 “are already based on the procedure being performed as a bilateral procedure.” In contrast to CPT® instructions, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allows us to report only one unit of 69210 for a bilateral procedure. CMS does allow us to bill a bilateral procedure for cerumen removal by lavage using 69209-50.#N#Finally, note that some payers may stipulate “advanced practitioner skill” is necessary to report removal of impacted earwax (i.e., payers may require that a physician provide 69209, 69210). Query your individual payers to be certain of their requirements.
A.Medicare accepts many different ICD-9 codes as “supporting medical necessity.” By definition, however,#N#69210 always involves the diagnosis of impacted cerumen, so it seems reasonable to always attach the code for impacted cerumen ( 380.4) to the code 69210.#N#Of course, the physician documentation should clearly demonstrate the presence of impacted cerumen, as defined above. If you are attempting to code an E/M code in addition to code 69210, appropriate coding of an additional diagnosis is often helpful to reduce denials.#N#DAVID STERN, MD ( Practice Velocity)
Rather, most coders would recommend that code 69210 be reserved for use in situations where the cerumen removal takes significant effort by the physician. This is a situation where many individual payors have set different policies for application of this code, so it is best to check with individual payors for their policy.
A.A simplistic answer is that removing the wax is simply included in the emergency and management (E/M) code . The actual situation, however, is not quite so straightforward.